19 Years Later
by Meracles
Summary: 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione have children old enough to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft of Wizardry.
1. Chapter 1

"Gryffindor!"

The Sorting Hat shouted out the House to the Great hall as a whole.

Albus Severus Potter hopped off of the three-legged stool, the enormous grin spreading across his face barely concealing the expression of relief that passed over him when the old hat declared his House.

Of course he had been nervous, for Albus had more than enough to live up to.

Grinning quickly at his closest friend, Rose Weasley, he scurried over to the table that had erupted with cheers and cat-calls. His ears turned pink, a general sign that he was embarrassed, when he heard them calling his last name.

"Potter, Potter, Potter!" He knew exactly why, and it made him incredibly proud, if not a slight bit embarrassed.

Albus sat down at the first seat that he could find, and discreetly shifted his hand over to save a seat for Rose, who, at the present moment, was his only first year friend at Hogwarts.

He looked up at the staff table to see many familiar faces. Catching Professor Longbottom's eye, he grinned and waved. Being an incredibly close family friend, he received a joyful wave in return.

Albus waited patiently for the W-s to come around, and in the meantime, he looked up and down the length of the table at the people who would be members of his House for the next seven years. Not far down the row, there was a boy with white blond hair, whose face and ears were beet-red. His eyes were furious, and the smallest bit sad. Not wanting to seem as though he was staring, Albus averted his gaze.

When Rose was sorted into Gryffindor, Albus uncrossed his fingers, toes and arms and cheered with the rest of the House. Rose practically ran down the row and sat down next to Albus, nudging him and grinning widely..

Albus soon heard the clinking of a glass from up at the staff table. Headmistress Jimberore stood up, her kindly old face casting shadows on the wall.

"Welcome, students and staff, new and old, to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet another year comes to pass! Another year, sure to be filled to the brim with magical education. Last year, the Slytherin House continued their 3 year-winning streak of the House Cup, and Ravenclaw took home the Quidditch Cup." At this, both Houses cheered. and the Headmistress waited patiently for them to settle down before continuing. " Now, we start a new year, and I hope that you are all ready to learn some magic! Finally, as always, stay away from the Forbidden Forest, and no curses in the corridors. Now, you may eat!"

With those words, the golden plates and goblets filled with all of the best foods. Albus piled food onto his plate, and began to eat as though he hadn't in days. After five practically silent minutes of everyone in the Hall eating, Albus took a break from his potatoes and looked around the Great Hall. He noticed a pale ghost floating up and down the Gryffindor table, and whispered into Rose's ear, " I think that might be the Gryffindor ghost." Rose looked over to where the ghost was floating, in the middle of the roast beef, and nodded in agreement.

After the dinner had been magically cleared, and Albus felt as though he had been filled with cotton stuffing, the House began to file out of the Great Hall. Hearing, " First year Gryffindor's, follow me," Rose grabbed Albus's elbow and pulled him over to where the Gryffindor prefect was standing.

As they walked up the many flights of stairs to reach the Common Room, Albus marvelled at the moving pictures and staircases, and he knew that in the first couple of weeks, he was going to have to work very hard not to get lost.

Finally, after a long narration by the Gryffindor prefects, who had introduced themselves as Harper Brengen and Calvin Kadren, all of the first years arrived at the portrait of, as James had told him, the Fat Lady.

"Listen up, first years!" Harper called out, " I am going to tell you the password to get into the common room. Don't forget it, or you will have to wait around outside until someone tells it to you. And, the password changes every so often, so remember that. Alright, the password is _Gillywater. _Did everyone get that? Good."

When Harper said the password, the portrait swung open to reveal a hole in the wall. The prefects climbed in, and the first years pushed and shoved to be the first ones into the Common Room. In the struggle to get through the portrait hole, Albus lost sight of Rose, but when he stepped through, he momentarily forgot about his friend.

In awe, Albus looked around at the glowing fireplace surrounded by plush armchairs, the scarlet tapestries hanging from the walls, and the windows that gave Albus the perfect view of the Hogwarts grounds.

Across, the room, Albus saw Rose being ushered up the staircase to the girl's dormitories. He waved to get her attention, and when he caught her eye, he mouthed _Goodnight._

When Albus reached his dormitory, there was only one boy in it. It was the red-faced boy who Albus had glanced before. Now, the boy was sitting on one of the four poster beds, and had his head in his hands.

"Hi," Albus began cautiously, sitting down on the bed next to the boy's, where his trunk was set. " My name's Albus Potter. Are- are you alright?"

The boy gave a strangled laugh and replied, " I'm Scorpius Malfoy, and no, I'm not alright. I'm not even supposed to be here."

"Where? At Hogwarts?"

"No. In Gryffindor. My whole family, and I mean my whole family, has been in Slytherin. My grandparents already think I'm worthless because I don't despise the thought of Muggles like they do."

Albus was silent. After while, he said carefully, "I think that if they don't accept you for you, then they don't really care about you. Isn't that what they always tell us"

Scorpius studied the other boy's face, his pale eyes sad. "I guess so. I just-"

But he never finished his sentence, because at that moment, three boys burst into the room, laughing. The first boy, while shaking his sandy hair out of his eyes, introduced himself as Wyatt Finnigan. The second boy introduced himself as Leo Valiente, and fell backwards onto his bed. The last boy introduced himself as Liam Hannsen, and barely made it through the doorway before he tripped over his trunk and fell flat on his face.

As Wyatt helped him up, (for they seemed to be close friends) the rest of them laughed happily. Albus glanced over at Scorpius, and was glad to see that his face lit up as he laughed. He felt bad for him. It must be hard to have a family that doesn't understand you.

When they finally calmed down, they all climbed under their comfortable covers, and slowly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Albus made it down to the Great Hall with few detours. He found Rose at the Gryffindor table, saving a seat for him. Albus sat down in the sat next to her and began piling all of the breakfast delights onto his plate.

"So, Rosie," Albus began, " Did you make any new friends last night?"

"Actually, yes," Rose replied, "The girls in my dorm are really nice. But, I really like one of them- her name's Penelope Deore. How about you?"

" Everyone in my dorm is nice, too. And I got talking to Scorpius Malfoy."

Rose was silent for only a second. "What? He's in Gryffindor?"

"Yes, Rosie, please give him a chance. He seemed very nice to me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because my dad said to never trust a Malfoy."

"He's _different_. Please just give him a chance."

"...Fine Albus, I'll give him a chance."

Albus grinned at her, and looked around the Hall. Right across from them, there were two empty spaces on the bench. Albus poked Rose in the side. " You find your Penny and I'll find Scorpius, and we can invite them to sit near us."

Rose sighed, " Alright, Al. Whatever you say."

Albus scanned the Hall, and saw Scorpius walking through the doorway. He hopped off the bench and ran up the row to meet him.

"Scorpius," Albus said, "will you sit across from my cousin Rose and I?"

Scorpius flushed, but looked pleased all the same. " Alright, then. I suppose I will."

When Albus and Scorpius reached their place, Rose had already found her friend. Albus sat down again, and so did Scorpius. Breaking the drawn-out silence, Albus began with introductions.

"Rose, this is Scorpius. Scorpius, Rose."

Rose looked at Scorpius with a blue-eyed, calculating gaze. Scorpius looked at her with concealed awe, and blushed, looking away."

Rose introduced her friend. " Albus and Scorpius, this is my friend Penny."

Penny, who had smooth, dark brown hair and hazel eyes, gave a tentative wave. Both Albus and Scorpius waved back, and Albus smiled at her.

"Well, then!" Albus said, " Now that we have gotten that out of the way, are you all excited for classes?"

Penny nearly jumped out of her seat with excitement. "I can't wait! Everything sounds amazing, and I am especially excited for Charms!" she spoke quickly, and shocked Albus, who had assumed that she was rather shy.

"I'm most excited for Defense Against the Dark Arts." Albus said in reply.

"I can't wait for Transfiguration!" Rose added.

Realizing that it was his turn in the conversation, Scorpius said, "I'm looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts, too."

Albus held his hand for a high-five across the table, and after a moment's unsure pause, Scorpius returned the gesture. Rose glared at the two of them, and when Scorpius saw, he stopped grinning and blushed yet again.

All throughout the day, as Albus tried to befriend Scorpius, Rose stood by, stone-faced and cold. By the end of the day, Scorpius had loosened up around Albus, but whenever Rose, entered, he became as closed off as she was to him.

To Albus, it was all very confusing. He was unable to understand why Rose couldn't let the grudges of their parents go, and be friends with Scorpius, who Albus genuinely enjoyed the company of.

At dinner that night, tensions between Rose and Scorpius had not lessened, and Albus and Penny sat by, watching the silent battle of wills. The four of them ate in silence, and after what seemed like hours, Scorpius finally broke the silence that hung like a cloud over their section of the table.

"Um... Rose? " Scorpius began quietly, " Look, I know that there is some bad blood between our families, and I get that. But, I just want you to know that I'm not like my father and grandfather. And I really like to have some friends at Hogwarts."

Rose looked at him, not prepared to give in just yet, and gave a cautious nod.

As they waited outside the Potions classroom, someone ran by Rose, knocking the books out of her arms. "Hey!" she exclaimed, looking up to see who had bumped into her. The person was a tall boy wearing Slytherin robes.

"Oops," he said, a sneer dominating his long face, "That was my fault. But, really, you look awfully weak to be carrying all those heavy books."

Rose's face and ears turned bright red, and the boy ran down the hall, laughing.

Someone crouched down next to her, and Rose looked up, expecting to see Albus. Instead, Scorpius was helping to pick up her books, his blond hair falling into his eyes, and his face too was tinted pink.

"Don't listen to them," he said quietly, "They're jerks, and you shouldn't let their worthless opinions bother you." He handed her her books, and helped to pull her to her feet. With that, he walked back to stand next to Albus in line.

Rose watched the back of his head and wondered to herself. Could he really be all that bad?

As Albus lay awake, soaking in all of the exhausting events of the day, He heard Scorpius's voice from the bed next to his.

"Albus?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we… are we friends now?"

"Yes, I believe that we are."

Albus didn't hear anything more from Scorpius, but he liked to assume that he was happy with that answer.

Though Albus enjoyed that company of all of the other students at Hogwarts, he rather liked the small friendship group that he had formed. Two weeks into school at Hogwarts, he, Scorpius, Penny and Rose (who had accepted that Scorpius was a decent person after all) were inseparable. They did their homework together, sat next to each other in classes, and spent weekends lounging by the lake. Though they had not quite yet formed ever-lasting bonds of friendship, such bonds were well on their way to being created.

So far, Albus had avoided getting dreadfully lost, but there had been several occasions where they had all been late for breakfast. Still, these were all things that they were able to laugh about later.

At breakfast, Albus was delighted to see his owl, Basil, flying through the Great Hall for the very first time. Basil was a barn owl, and the first owl that had caught Albus's eye in Eeylops Owl Emporium. When Albus had first brought his owl home from Diagon Alley, he had let him loose to fly around the yard and stretch his wings. But, soon after he called his owl back inside, his mum discovered that all of the basil in the garden had been reduced to stalks. So, Albus's owl earned the name of Basil, with the affectionate nicknames of Baz and Greenie.

In Basil's talons were two letters. The first, from Albus's parents, sending him love, and the second, from the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. Indeed, Albus had heard plenty about Hagrid from his father and James.

The letter invited Albus to tea in three day's time.

Grinning, Albus showed the letter to his friends, and nudged Rose when they read the post-script: _Make sure that Rose Weasley comes with you. I've been waiting to meet her as well._

Albus was delighted to get to meet Hagrid. His father and James always talked of him when the described their experiences at Hogwarts, and now, Albus was finally going to meet the person that they all talked about.

After lunch, the group left the Great Hall and made their way over to the greenhouses for their last class of the day. Though Herbology wasn't his favorite subject (which was most certainly Defense Against the Dark Arts), Albus enjoyed the smell of the greenhouses, and he liked getting to see Professor Longbottom, who was an old family friend.

Today, Professor Longbottom revealed that they would be traveling into the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest to harvest some fungi or another. This caused some excitement between the students, as they had not been allowed even near the forest yet.

Equipped with clippers and gloves, the class, made up of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, walked out of the greenhouses. Professor Longbottom led the students into the Forbidden Forest, telling them to look carefully at the ground.

After they were deeper into the forest, Scorpius startled Albus out of his daydreaming with a rough shake.

"Albus, where's Rose?" he whispered

Albus looked around at the classmates in front and in back of him. "I'm not sure. I swear I saw her a second ago."

The two looked around for several more minutes, and concluded that Rose was, indeed, missing. They tried to work their way through the line to tell Professor Longbottom, but when they finally reached him, they discovered that he was occupied, as he had tripped over a root and fallen in the mud.

Albus and Scorpius, in silent agreement, slowly backed out of the line, looking for Penny. They spotted her at the end of the line, and looped around back so that no one else would see them. When they were close enough to Penny, Scorpius grabbed one of her arms, and Albus grabbed the other, clapping his free hand over her mouth.

Penny started to struggle, but when she saw that it was her friends, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Very funny," she said, "but can we hurry up now? I really don't like the idea of being left in the forest alone."

"That's the point!" replied Scorpius, "We can't find Rose, so she must have gotten lost at some point."

"Rose-" said Penny, " But I… Oh dear."

Penny nodded silently, and the three of them stood in silence for a second, unsure of what to do.

" I suppose," Albus began, " we should all have our wands out, just to be safe."

Although they had been taught very little magic so far, Albus was comforted to have his wand, made of hazel wood and unicorn hair, at his side.

The three friends walked back along the path that they had just trodden, sticking close together in the fading light of day. Careful not to stray off the path, they looked for a flash of red hair among the dull greens and browns.

Several times, they were forced to hide behind trees when they heard the cracks of branches. Once, Albus swore he heard footsteps, and the swish of a cloak but rather than look and risk getting caught, his simply flattened himself against a tree.

After looking for what seemed like hours, to the point where the sun hung low in the sky, Scorpius finally spotted Rose, curled up against a tree. He ran to her, and pulled her off of the ground. Soon, Albus and Penny were at her side.

"Rose, are you alright?" Albus's asked.

" Yes," she replied, " but I am worried. I was sure that I heard footsteps just a little while ago."

Scorpius cast a worried gaze over the mess of trees and undergrowth. "We should go. Now," he said.

They hurried through the tangles and roots of the forest, and by the time they reached the edge of the forest, night had fallen completely.

Albus groaned. "We are going to be in so much trouble."

Scorpius grinned. "Think like the Gryffindor you are, Al! We only get in trouble if we get caught."

Rose and Penny laughed, shaking their heads.

The group of friends approached the door, and were lucky to find it unlocked. Once inside, they tiptoed up the stairs, listening carefully to the sounds of the sleeping castle. After making it up several flights of stairs, a long shadow took up the wall.

"It's Grunge!" Albus whispered, looking about frantically. He spotted an open doorway at the end of the corridor, and ran toward it, waving to the others when he made it inside.

Ceald Grunge was the Hogwarts caretaker, and he relished in the job of punishing students found out of bed. He was expelled from Hogwarts in his fifth year, for many different reasons circulated by the rumor mill. He returned many years later to apply for the job as caretaker, and got the job after the other candidates withdrew. Ten years of dealing with raucous children and cleaning the castle had turned him vengeful and bitter.

He was more approachable during the day, but long nights of patrol turned him downright nasty. If he found Albus and his friends, there is no telling what torture may befall them.

They waited in the dark room for several minutes, until they heard booted footsteps hitting the stairs. Penny found the door and opened it cautiously. She crept through the doorway quietly, but Albus tripped over a trunk that was on the floor of the room. He fell into Scorpius, who in turn fell into a large suit of armor. When they heard the loud clatter, they all froze in their places. In seconds, they heard footsteps running back up the stairs.

"Run!" Scorpius half-yelled, and the four of them took off up the stairs, running as fast as they could towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Rose gasped, "_Gillywater!" _and when the portrait swung open, they all clambered inside.

The four friends collapsed into the armchairs, breathing heavily. They looked at each other, and began to laugh, unable to stop.


	3. Chapter 3

Friday came next, luckily for the foursome, as their nighttime escapade left them exhausted, and they would soon have a weekend to regain some of the sleep that they had lost.

When Albus woke up, rubbing his eyes and yawning, he stretched, trying to shake off the cobwebs of sleep, and he tumbled off the bed and fell with a thud onto the floor. Scorpius, who had still been sleeping, awoke with a start, and upon seeing Albus on the floor, started to laugh. Scorpius leaned down, giving a hand to Albus, and picked his friend off the floor of their dorm. They walked out of the dorm, down the spiral staircase, and out of the portrait hole.

When they reached the Great Hall, Rose and Penny were already in their seats, Scorpius and Albus started to walk towards them, but Albus's brother caught him by the arm and pulled him back. Albus waved for Scorpius to continue walking, and turned back towards his brother.

"Really, bro?" said James, " Malfoy?"

Albus closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes, Malfoy. I swear if you got to know him, you'd see that he's not that bad. But your grudges really aren't my problem." He lifted his eyes to his brother's, then walked to sit with his friends.

After breakfast, the Gryffindors had Charms. Professor Swayve revealed in their last class that they would finally turn off of the subject of Charm Theory, and begin learning how to do actual magic.

When they reached the Charms classroom, they were the only ones there. At breakfast, Rose had become impatient, so she had pulled all of them up from their seats and dragged them to Charms. Rose was bouncing on the balls on her feet in excitement, and Penny was looking rather nervous.

Both of them were very similar, perhaps one of the reasons they had become fast friends. Both Rose and Penny tended to worry about their school work. Rose had her mother's brains and confidence, and cool composure that came from her father's approach in school. On the other hand, Penny often became overly stressed. Yet, once they dragged her away from her work, she forgot all about it and took a breath of fresh air.

As the minutes dragged on, more Gryffindors appeared. Leo Valiente came, followed by Ellen Beald and Simon Eira, and finally, Wyatt Finnigan and Liam Hanssen, who arrived, punching each other in the ribs. With their arrival, the door swung open to reveal the young and mischievous face of Professor Sores Swayve.

"Come in!" he called, walking back inside the classroom, "We have a big lesson ahead of us!"

Rose was the first one in the door, and she practically sprinted to the front seat. Once all of the students had been seated, Professor Swayve cleared his throat.

"Alright then," he began, "Today we will be starting with the levitation spell, Wingardium Leviosa. " Rose glanced back at Albus, grinning, having heard this spell mentioned more than once in their parent's tales.

"Remember Charms theory, the movement is everything," Professor Swayve reminded them, "Swish, flick and enunciate."

The room was then filled with the overlapping voices of many children. Albus felt it hard to concentrate, and needed to take a second to even remember what he was supposed to be doing.

Scorpius glanced at him with a joking look, and Albus shook his head, silently laughing. Albus glanced at the desks in front of him, at Rose and Penny, who were clearly enunciating their vowels.

Albus took a deep breath, and stared hard at the feather he was supposed to levitating. "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather did not move. Albus tried five more times to move the feather, which he thought would not be all that hard to move. It was a feather, after all.

Still, no one had managed to levitate their feather, and Professor Swayve was sitting at his desk, his feet up, with an amused frown on his face.

Albus was beginning to get irritated. He had expected at least Rose to levitate the feather, who had, with her mother's urging, read all of the course books.

He narrowed his eyes at the feather, willing it to move. He positioned his wand over the feather, and swished his wand to the left. Then, he drawled "Wingaaardium Leviooosa", drawing out each vowel with as much exaggeration and force as he could manage. Finally, he flicked his wrist so hard it hurt.

To his surprise and the surprise of everyone else in the classroom, the feather slowly lifted off of the desk. It rose into the air, bumped into Penny's head, and continued its agonizingly slow trip across the room, until it finally lost the small amount of momentum it had and floated, stationary in the middle of the classroom.

Albus looked at the brown feather with wide eyes. The whole class stared at him, silent and in shock. From the front desk, Professor Swayve clapped slowly. He caught Albus's eye and waved him over to his desk. Standing up, the professor grasped Albus's shoulders and turned him towards the class.

"Do you have any advice to share with the class?" he asked, " What's the secret?"

"Um…, " Albus, "Irritation?"

Professor Swayve and the entire class laughed quietly.

"Well, there you have it!" said Professor Swayve, "Perhaps not the approach I'd prefer, but if it works, it works. So, try Mr. Potter's tactic on for size."

Albus walked back to his seat and watched his peers glare at the feathers with vehemence. Seconds later, Rose's feather shot up, faster than Albus's had, and Rose glowed with pride. Then, Penny's feather, and not long after, Scorpius's rose off of the desks and into the air.

By the time class was over, every student in the class had successfully levitated their feathers. Professor Swayve sent them off with the homework of a short essay on the origins and different methods of the Levitation Charm. Rose was somewhat thrilled with the assignment. They had not had an excuse to use the library so far, as most of their assignments had been reading from the textbooks.

Once classes had ended for the day, Rose and Penny raced off to the library to head off their only weekend assignment. Albus and Scorpius took their time, and met them there several minutes later.

In the library, Scorpius lounged on an armchair and waited while Rose looked for books on the essay.

"Hey, Weasley," he called to Rose, who was hidden behind the shelves, "Do you need me to draw you up a map so you don't get lost?"

"Oh really? Well, Malfoy, would you like me to levitate your chair for you, so that you can assist me? I understand you've come down with a crippling condition of laziness." She emerged from the shelves, her arms full and her eyebrows raised at Scorpius.

Scorpius got up swiftly from the chair, and lunged at Rose, jabbing her in the side, and almost making her drop her books, which she proceeded to hit him over the head with.

"Honestly, you two," Albus said from his armchair, where he was attempting to read one of the books from the Invisibility Section, " You'll get us all thrown out of the library." He looked over at Penny, who had her nose deep in a book. "Penny, relax! We have the whole weekend to do homework, and plus, we get to see Hagrid tomorrow."

Penny turned her head towards him and replied, "Tell me we have all weekend on Sunday, when you will inevitably rushing to do the homework you didn't do."

Rose walked over to Penny's chair and grabbed it, pulling her and the chair away from the book. "Penn, If you're going to work, let's work together. It makes it a lot more fun."

Penny sighed. " Fine, then. But they can't just sit there and wait for us to tell them the answers," she said, nodding her head in Scorpius's direction.

"Hey!" exclaimed Scorpius, "I'll help, and I'm not an idiot either." With that, he stalked off into the shelves, and returned minutes later with his arms full of books. Albus began rooting through the stack of books that Rose had found, and he picked out several that seemed useful.

Each of them took a book from the jumbled pile that lay on the floor, and began looking through the book to find tidbits about the Levitation Charm. Albus located it first in his book, and he began calling out information.

The four of them wrote down sentence after sentence as they all took turns reading passages from the books. Soon enough, they had filled up half of the scroll of parchment, far more than Professor Swayve had asked for.

Albus smiled at Penny, "There, Penn, we finished our only homework for the weekend. Now can we enjoy ourselves."

Penny looked at him sideways, and smiled with the slightest bit of sarcasm.

In agreement, the friends returned the books, and left their chairs. They walked out of the school, and down to the Black Lake, to enjoy the last of the day's sunlight.


	4. Chapter 4

Albus woke up late on Saturday, just because he could. Saturday was free of worry, yet full of excitement. Today, as Albus had responded, he and his friends were going down to Hagrid's hut for tea. So, at tea time, he and his friends left the castle and walked across the Hogwarts grounds.

As they walked closer to the forest, they saw a hut with illuminated windows and smoke curling out of the chimney. Albus grinned, filled with an unexplainable happiness. More than he had before, he felt at home here. He felt like a part of him that he didn't know was missing had been filled up.

Albus approached and knocked cautiously on the large wooden door. Within seconds, the door swung open to reveal as very large man, who Albus knew was Rubeus Hagrid.

Hagrid's thick hair and beard were peppered with grey. Though his cheeks still retained a ruddy glow, he had the appearance of someone who had been through much in the last several years.

"Well!" he exclaimed, "Abou' time yeh showed up!" He put on a stern, but unconvincing face, and looked down at Albus. Then, his hairy face broke into a toothy grin, and he squeezed Albus into a bone-crushing hug that lifted his feet clean off the ground.

When he was released, feeling short of breath, Hagrid waved him inside the hut. Next, Hagrid repeated the same process with Rose, adding, "Another Weasley! I can' deny I enjoy havin' yer family around."

Penny greeted Hagrid with a smile, and got one in return, but Scorpius, who had tried to keep his head down, was not missed by Hagrid.

"An' who might this be?" Hagrid asked, narrowing his eyes at Scorpius.

Albus replied, "It's our friend, Scorpius Malfoy, Hagrid. He's in Gryffindor as well.

Hagrid looked at Scorpius carefully. "Malfoy, eh? I can tell by yer looks. But ye don' seem all that bad ter me, so that jus' go's ter show."

Scorpius flushed, glad to be accepted, and to not be thrown roughly out of the hut.

As Albus made his way to the worn-out couch, he took in the jumbled appearance of the hut's interior. From the ceiling hung a variety of things, from hams to glistening silver strands that Albus could only assume were the hairs of a unicorns tail. In the corner, Albus noticed a large and extremely out of place tank, filled with water and covered with a carelessly thrown blanket. inside the tank, Albus could occasionally catch glimpses of a dark figure, that often seemed to take the form of a horse.

"Hagrid, what's in that tank?" Albus asked.

Hagrid eyed the tank nervously before replying, "Ah, well… Tha's a Kelpie. 'S a water demon."

Albus stared. "Why do have one in your house?"

" 'S a rather long story… So, how have yer classes been so far?" Hagrid said, changing the subject hastily. Albus had heard plenty of stories about Hagrid's love for exotic and potentially dangerous creatures, so he decided to let the matter rest.

"They've been wonderful!" Rose exclaimed, " I've already learned so much!"

Rose then proceeded on a long rant about her favorite classes and spells that she had learned so far, where Albus and Penny would occasionally interrupt with their own thoughts. Scorpius stayed quiet in the corner, unsure of what to do or say. After several minutes, the conversation slowed, and HAgrid turned his black eyes to Scorpius.

"So, Scorpius Malfoy, how's school been for ye?"

"Just call me Scorpius, and I really like Hogwarts. It's nice to have good friends to hang out with," Scorpius replied quietly, and smiled at his friends.

"Ye know, yer father gave me some trouble when he was at Hogwarts. But I 'spect yeh're quite different from 'im."

"Thank you," Scorpius said, smiling.

They talked at Hagrid for another hour, until night began to fall. Then, Hagrid sent them out the door with some rock cakes, and he bade them to come back anytime they could.

As they walked back up to the castle in the fading light, Albus noticed Rose glancing nervously over to the forest every few seconds. Albus nudged her and asked, "Rosie, what's wrong?"

"Al, I can't stop thinking about what I heard in the forest. You said you heard footsteps too, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I-"

"It might have just been a centaur," Penny interjected, "You don't know for sure that it was a person."

"I guess so," Rose conceded, " But it _really _did sound like booted footsteps."

"Even if it was," said Scorpius, "There's nothing to worry about. No one hurt us then, and no one is going to hurt us now. I won't let them," he finished fiercely.

Rose smiled, "Thanks, Scorpius, but I don't think that will be necessary. I say we all just forget about it."

They had reached the doors and they walked into the Great Hall, getting there just in time for dinner.

The next day, Scorpius got his first owl from his parents. As Basil flew down from the rafters to drink some of Albus's pumpkin juice, another owl followed. When Scorpius saw the owl flying towards him, his smile faltered. The Spotted Owl, whose name was Ambrisse, landed neatly next to his plate, and Scorpius untied the letter that was dangling from his leg. With that, and a nibble of Scorpius's oatmeal, the owl flew off, back to the Owlery.

Scorpius read the letter, stone-faced, and when Albus asked him what it was, he handed it to him. The letter was on sleek, creamy parchment, and had the Malfoy crest emblazoned on the top. The letter read:

_Dear Scorpius,_

_You have been at Hogwarts for several weeks now, and have yet to write us a letter. Please do write soon, we would love to hear from you._

_How has your time at Hogwarts been so far? Though I know I needn't ask, what House were you sorted into? I do hope that you have made some close friends. I hear that Blaise Zabini's daughter, Olive, is in your year. Say hello to her for me, as her father was one of my close friends. _

_I wish you as much enjoyment and education as I had at Hogwarts (which wasn't too much, if you ask me), and can't wait to see you at Christmastime._

_Your loving father,_

_Draco Malfoy_

Albus, and Rose and Penny, who had been reading over Albus's shoulder, looked up at Scorpius when they had finished the letter.

"You haven't told them yet?" asked Rose, the slightest undertone of pity in her voice.

Scorpius lifted his chin and looked at them, his eyes blazing. "Why should I? The only thing that I am going to get out of telling them is disappointment. I don't care what they think, and I'm happy being in Gryffindor. It's bad enough that everyone whispers behind my back, that the Malfoy boy isn't in SLytherin. I don't need for my father to scold me for not getting into Slytherin as well."

Albus felt for Scorpius. He pretended not to hear, but couldn't ignore the whispers that followed him and Rose around the school like a trail of smoke. Albus adored his father, and looked up to him more than anyone, but he didn't want to be remembered for just being Harry Potter's boy. He wanted to be remembered for being Albus Severus Potter.

Rose nodded quietly at the end of Scorpius's rant. "You don't need their approval, Scorpius. You've got ours." She smiled kindly at him, and then her face turned stern. "But you do need to tell them at some point. Rather they hear it from you than from someone else."

"And plus," Albus added, "You can use it to say: I'm my own person, and I am WAY more awesome than you."

Scorpius grinned, "Well, then. I suppose we have a letter to write."


	5. Chapter 5

Soon, the warm weather of autumn began to fade, and was replaced by brisk winds and frost.

On one of the last warm days of the year, the Gryffindors had their flying lesson with Madame Elebar. Madame Elebar had taken over two years ago, after Madam Hooch finally retired.

Albus was very excited for the flying lesson, and could not wait to get on a broom again. With his mother and father as good as they were at Quidditch, he and James had been on a broomstick many times before. Still, Albus missed the feeling of wind in his hair, even if he was never allowed very high off the ground.

Scorpius was excited as well, but Penny and Rose were both nervous. Rose had ridden a broom before, but she inherited some of her mother's incompetence when it can to the world of Quidditch. Penny, though, had never ridden a broom before. Though she was a half-blood, her parents were incredibly strict and paranoid when it came to the possibility of Muggles noticing.

The Gryffindors were taking flying lessons with the Slytherins, the one thing that Albus was not looking forward to. Though it was cliche, he did not like the looks of some of this years Slytherins. Several of them, like Chelsea Meta or River Burne, looked well-mannered and honest, but others, such as Marco Bulstrode, Alexa Goyle and Jonathan Onata, had a dark and unforgiving look about them.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins stood awkwardly in the middle of the courtyard for only a minute, when Madame Elebar strode out of the castle, robes billowing.

"Good afternoon, class! Today those of you have not already been taught will learn how to fly. So, pick a broom and stand next to it."

There was a minute of shuffling where everyone pushed and shoved to get to the brooms that were the least decrepit. When it appeared that everyone had chosen a broom, Madame Elebar continued with her instructions.

"Hold out your right hand directly over the broom, and say 'UP!'"

Albus held his hand up, and the old broom jumped willingly into his outstretched palm. Next to him, Scorpius's broom shot up as well, but Penny and Rose had to try more than once to move the broom. Penny got her broom to come to her after her second, and more forceful try. Rose however, took four tries until the broom left the ground and shot into her hand.

"Now," Madame Elebar called, " Everyone mount their brooms, and on the count of three, push off of the ground. Stay in the air for a few seconds, then lean forward lightly to come back to the ground. ONE. TWO. THREE. "

All of the brooms rose steadily into the air, and Albus slipped slightly on the worn handle before lowering himself back down to the ground. His feet twitched, and he longed to push off the ground hard and race around the courtyard.

Once everyone had touched the ground again, Madame Elebar granted Albus's wish.

"Now we are going to take a lap around the courtyard. When you push off the ground, straighten out and lean forward ever so slightly. To turn, lean in whichever direction you are trying to go. Alright, then. You may proceed!"

Albus eagerly pushed off the ground, and zoomed around the courtyard, grinning widely. When he had finished his lap, he hung in the air for a minute and glanced around at his airborne classmates. Penny and Rose were flying side by side, but very slowly and wobbling all the way. Scorpius had arrived next to him, along with a menacing-looking Slytherin.

Albus was by far the best flier in the class, as he had been taught well, and Scorpius was not far behind him. If Albus and Scorpius had been paying attention as they raced each other across the grass, they would have noticed the dreamy looks that the Gryffindor, and even some Slytherin girls, were shooting in their direction. Though neither of them wanted to be more the center of attention than they already were, as they were flying, they forgot where they were, and shamelessly displayed their skills to the whole class.

Madame Elebar put them through several more flying exercises, before dismissing them to lunch. Albus was grinning like a mad-man when he finished, glad to have been back on a broom again.

As they were walking back inside, someone bumped roughly into Rose, knocking her to the ground. When she looked up, she saw the tall Slytherin boy who had bumped into her before. He smirked at her, and bent down. When he stood up again, she saw that he had grabbed the small book that she was carrying with her. The book was her mother's copy of _the Tales of Beedle the Bard. _

Rose scrambled to her feet, her eyes wide. The book was old and falling apart at the seams, so she treated it with the utmost care. But clutched in the thin fingers of the leering boy, she worried terribly about it. She had no idea why this boy seemed to hate her so much, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to find out.

"Oh no, my bad, " the boy said, mock pity in his eyes, "I didn't introduce myself. My name is Justin Gramm, and of course, I know who you are, Rose Weasley. So, I'll just carry on. Oh, and I think I'll take this lovely book with me."

Rose tried to speak, but she was frozen, and couldn't seem to push the words out of her mouth.

Sensing her distress, Scorpius stepped in front of her, his pale eyes stormy and cold. "Give Rose her book back." he said.

"Sticking up for your girlfriend, huh? No, I don't think I will. After all, I always wanted to read this book."

Scorpius's pale cheeks flushed pink, but he didn't back down. "She's not my girlfriend. And I _really_ think you should give the book back."

"Make me."

With surprisingly quick reflexes, Scorpius lunged forward and snatched the book out of Justin Gramm's outstretched hand. The other boy's face displayed shock for only a second before the sneering mask returned. He scowled and walked closer to Scorpius, who backed up warily. Justin made a grab at the front of Scorpius's robes, but Scorpius jerked back just in time.

Albus grabbed Scorpius, Rose and Penny and they took off down the hallway. They didn't hear footsteps following them, but just to be safe, Penny dragged them into the first empty room that they could find.

The room was dark, but there was a luminous glow in one of the corners. Against better judgement, and for the sake of curiosity, Rose picked her way carefully across the floor to the corner of the room. Seconds later, she was joined by her friends. The glowing was coming from a small set of caldrons that were covered by a ragged wool blanket. There were many bottles of a bright, and obviously glowing, orange liquid lined up against the wall.

Albus picked one up and took off the stopper. Just as he brought it up to his face to smell it, Rose smacked it out his hand. The bottle shattered and the liquid seeped into the carpet, staining it.

"What was that for?" Albus exclaimed.

"Shush!" Rose hushed him. "You don't know what was is in that bottle…. Can… can we leave? I don't like the feeling of this place."

Nodding silently, the four friends backed out of the room, and they made their way to catch the last of lunch.


	6. Chapter 6

It took Professor Swayve decorating the Entrance Hall in pumpkins and bats for Albus to realize that Halloween had come. The first two months of school at Hogwarts had been so consuming and so exciting that Albus had barely noticed the time that had passed.

Along with Halloween, Quidditch season had also begun. Several weekends before Halloween, the first match of the Quidditch season brought all of the Houses down to the Quidditch pitch in the brisk autumn weather. The match was Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff, so Albus felt no need to take sides, but it was nevertheless an interesting match to watch.

On the day of Halloween (which was luckily a Friday), the teachers were more forgiving and allowed them to take a break from their work. In Transfiguration and Herbology, they were given a free period, where they were able to complete some of the homework that they were given over the weekend. In Potions, they were allowed to experiment with the ingredients, and Ellen Beald caused her cauldron to explode, covering the whole front of the classroom in beige sludge. The Potions professor, Professor Havel cleaned the classroom and everyone who was hit with the sludge in seconds, but a couple people were left with nasty boils. Luckily, Albus was in the back of the classroom, and far away from any exploding cauldrons.

In Charms, Professor Swayve set up Halloween several games for them to play. They raced pumpkins across the floor and made skeletons dance. At the end of the class, Professor Swayve gave them each small cups of warm cider. As they waited for class to be dismissed, they all sat back down at their desks.

Penny looked over at Rose, and noticed her staring towards the teachers desk. Professor Swayve was reading a book, his feet propped up on the desk.

Penny gasped, "Oh no, Rosie, you don't have one of those weird teacher crushes on Professor Swayve, do you?

"What?" Rose blushed, "I-I was… I just… What makes you say that?"

"Well, only because you were staring up at his desk for quite some time. And if you do, I guess I could see why."

Professor Swayve was by far the youngest member of the Hogwarts staff. He had dark blond hair and grey eyes, and an ever-present playful smile on his face. Although Penny rolled her eyes at all of the girls who mooned over him during and after class, she understood where they were coming from.

Rose sighed, "Don't tell Al or Scorpius, they'd never let me hear the end of it."

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed."

After all of their classes had finished, everyone made their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. The Hall was darker than usual, and was decorated with every type of Halloween decoration. Live bats flew to and fro across the ceiling, and real skeletons hung from the walls. The ghosts floated through the tables and walls, glowing in the faint light.

After Headmistress Jimberore finished a short speech, the table was adorned with all types of sweets and delicious foods. Albus piled food onto his plate, suddenly extremely hungry, then he ate until he felt like his stomach was made of lead.

Albus groaned, his stomach full with the large amount of food he had eaten in just ten minutes. Scorpius laughed and jabbed him in the side, making Albus chuckle as well.

And then… all of the torches and candles were blown out. The Great Hall was plunged into pitch black darkness, with the only light being that of the stars and the faint light that the ghosts shed.

Albus couldn't see anyone's face, yet he wasn't afraid until he heard a high-pitched scream rip through the darkness.

"Stay calm, students!" Albus heard Professor Jimberore's voice ring throughout the hall. "Something has been done to the hall to prevent us from using magic inside it, but do not fear, we will sort things out immediately. I am assuming this is just a Halloween prank from our loving poltergeist, Peeves. Though, just to be safe, I do suggest that you move out of your seats and sit on the floor, to prevent someone tripping and injuring themselves. Thank you, and please stay as still as possible."

Albus climbed underneath the table, and from the screeching of the chairs next to him, he assumed that his friends were doing the same.

"Scorpius?" he whispered.

"Here."

"Rose? Penny?"

"Yeah, right here."

Albus looked around, and could barely make out the outline of his friends' faces.

"What do you think is going on?" asked Scorpius.

"I think that either someone is pulling a Halloween prank on us, or someone has broken into the castle," replied Penny.

"Well, if someone has broken in, why are we just staying here?" said Scorpius, "Not only should we be out there trying to help, but we are sitting ducks!"

Scorpius started to shift and move around, but Albus reached out and pulled him back down again.

"Scorpius, don't be daft," Rose hissed, "If you somehow managed to make your way to the door, what would you do? You know very little magic, and don't even know where to start!"

"Fine, fine…."

After what seemed like an hour, with a blinding flare of sudden light, all of the torches and candles in the Great Hall were aflame again.

Albus scrambled out from underneath the table, bumping his head lightly, and got to his feet. Headmistress Jimberore strode past him quickly, and walked up to the High Table. She turned on her heel, facing the astonished students.

"You will return to your dormitories immediately. Something terrible has happened, and though I shall not tell you what it is, I do want you to be wary. So, off to bed!"

All of the students began to shuffle towards the door. Because everyone was attempting to escape the Hall at once, there was a traffic jam in the doorway, and Albus was standing stationary for several minutes. At one point, Rose leaned over to him and whispered, "Did you hear that?" Albus shook his head, and Rose mouthed, _Wait until we get to the Common Room._

When they finally pushed their way out of the doorway and made it up to the Gryffindor Common Room, they sat down in the comfy armchairs by the fire, rather worn out.

It was torturous to have to wait for everyone to go up to their dorms. Because the feast had ended early, everyone was still high on energy, and the Common Room was packed with people. In one corner, there were people playing Gobstones. In another corner, two boys were playing wizard chess. In and yet another corner, there was a rowdy game of Exploding Snap going on, held by none other than Albus's brother and his close friend, Nico Jordan.

Finally, his brother left the Common Room, yawning widely, and Albus leaned in, prompting Rose.

"Well," she began, "I didn't hear a full conversation, but I walked by Professor Longbottom and Professor Swayve, and I heard disjointed bits of it. They said something about Catherine Boot, you know the Ravenclaw in the year above us? And something about a potion and… and magic disappearing."

Penny's brow furrowed, "So Catherine somehow got a potion that took away her magic?"

Rose wrung her hands nervously, "That's just one view of it. We don't know for sure."

"Don't stress over it, Rose," Scorpius reassured her, "I'm sure they'll tell us what happened tomorrow. "

Albus's eyes widened in shock and realization. "What about the potions that we found in that room?"

No one spoke, and the room was filled with the sound of the crackling fire.

Penny heaved a great sigh. "Well, even if that is true, there is nothing that we can do about it today, so I suggest we go to bed," she said, standing up abruptly, and walking over to the stairs.

The next day, they crept down the dark hallway to the room they had found before. Rose jiggled the handle, and when the door didn't budge, she whispered "_Alohomora." _ The door remained locked.


	7. Chapter 7

By the middle of November, all but a select few people had forgotten about what happened to Catherine Boot.

At breakfast one day, Rose received two letters, one from each of her parents. The family owl, Brilla, flew down from the rafters, and dropped the letters by Rose's plate before flying off again. Rose had no doubt what the letters were about. In one her weekly letters, she had replied to her parents' questions, one of them being who she had become friends with. Not wanting to lie, she wrote about becoming close friends with Scorpius and Penny. She knew that her mother would likely be accepting, but she wasn't so sure about her father.

She was comforted, at the least, by the response that Albus received from his parents. Albus sent them a letter a while back, and their response was filled with nothing but warmth and acceptance.

Her mother's letter was more or less what she was expecting.

_Dearest Rosie, _

_I'm so glad to hear how much you are enjoying your time at Hogwarts! Hearing about your adventures brings me back quite a bit. Relish it, because before you know it, the year will be over. But don't get too comfortable, dearest. I don't want you to stay at Hogwarts forever. I must say that I do miss you._

_Although I am sure your father might have different views, I am glad that you have made friends with Scorpius. Life at Hogwarts is much better when you have close friends at your side; I know from personal experience. I think that your friendship will benefit both of you._

_Lots of Love,_

_Mum_

_P.S. Hugo says hello, and would love if you would write a letter to him personally._

Her mother's letter made Rose smile, and she had to admit that she missed her too. Next, Rose ripped open her father's letter, nervous and excited at the same time.

_Rosie,_

_It's nice to hear that you are having a good time at Hogwarts. I know I did, so I hope your time is just as amazing as mine was (without all of the evil wizardry). _

_I certainly was surprised and a little irritated (more than a little) when you told me you became friends with Scorpius Malfoy, but I suppose that there is really nothing I can do to choose your friends for you. Your mother talked some sense into me, even though it took a while, and I guess I will have to meet him to really know what he is like. Perhaps in August, when Al comes to visit, Scorpius, and your friend Penelope can come to stay with us._

_Write soon!_

_Love,_

_Dad_

A huge grin spread across Rose's face, and she checked her tiny wristwatch. She had just enough time to get to the Owlery before class. Not bothering to tell her friends where she was going, she raced up the stairs to send two letters. One to her parents, and one, of course, to Hugo.

A week later, on an overly chilly weekend afternoon, Albus was enjoying a warm cup of tea in Hagrid's hut. Penny and Rose were in the library, researching for the large paper they had due for Transfiguration, so just he and Scorpius had come down to Hagrid's.

"Al?" Hagrid called from his kneeling position by the fire. He was making more tea for himself, because Albus had accidentally knocked his cup of tea and the kettle over.

"Yes, Hagrid?"

"Do yeh think tha' you could do me a favor?"

"Of course!"

Albus regretted his answer the minute the words slipped past his lips. He really liked Hagrid, but he wished that he asked what sort of favor Hagrid was talking about before he agreed. He knew that Hagrid could have dangerous ideas. Now Albus felt that he had to honor his promise.

"What sort of favor are we talking about, Hagrid?" asked Scorpius, reading Albus's mind.

"Ah well, see… The centaurs are bein' strangely rowdy, an' since they trust children, or foals as they call 'em, I wondered if yeh might help me calm 'em down."

Albus looked at Scorpius, talking with his eyes. It went without saying that Albus did not want to go back into the Forbidden Forest, but at the same time, he wanted to help Hagrid, as he had been so nice to him.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows, and nodded his head towards Hagrid, who was paying no attention to the silent exchange that was taking place.

"Okay, Hagrid. We'll help you. When would you like us to come down?"

"I was thinking, because yeh have a weekend, tha' we could do it tonight."

Albus took a deep breath to steeled himself before replying, "Yes, that's fine. Should Rose and Penny come too?"

"The more the merrier I suppose!" said Hagrid, sounding happy to have their company.

"What time would you like us to get here?", Scorpius put in.

"Right after dinner would be good fer me."

"Then we'll see you tonight, Hagrid. Do you mind if we go and find Penny and Rose? We should tell them about tonight, and we have to work on our homework."

"Don't mind at all. Good luck with yer school work!" called Hagrid as Albus and Scorpius began to walk back to the castle.

"You WHAT?" exclaimed Rose, not bothering to keep her voice down.

"Rosie, it's Hagrid," Albus said quietly, trying to calm her down, " He'd never let us get hurt. And don't you feel like we owe him? He's been nothing but pleasant to us."

Rose glared at him, then huffed, "I can't believe you agreed to this. But, fine, I'll go."

After dinner, Albus put on his cloak and left the Common Room. Outside the portrait hole, he met Scorpius and Penny.

"Where's Rose?" he asked.

"She's coming in a second," Penny replied, "She's just-"

At that moment, the portrait hole swung open, and Rose hopped out, her hair disheveled.

"I'm fine, fine! Let's go. Into the forest of certain death we trek!"

Albus glared at her, then turned on his heel and began walking cautiously down the stairs. Technically, they were allowed to be out of the Gryffindor Common Room, but teachers still frowned upon it.

They crept across the grounds, and reached Hagrid's illuminated hut. Scorpius knocked quietly on the wooden door, and after some shuffling inside, the door swung open, and Hagrid's shadow covered the ground. Putting a finger to his lips, he began to walk toward the forest, a crossbow on his back and a lantern in his hand.

Once they were next to the forest, Hagrid turned around, the lantern casting parts of his face into shadow.

"No strayin' off the path, alright?" he said, "We need ter stick together. It'll be safer tha' way."

Albus nodded, his eyes wide.

With that, they started into the forest in a single file line, each attempting to huddle in Hagrid's enormous shadow. Hagrid walked quickly, leaving them jogging to keep up.

After several minutes, Hagrid's quick strides slowed to a halt.

Looking around, Albus saw nothing but shadows and the trunks of enormous trees. He opened his mouth to say something, but Hagrid quietly shushed him.

"Somethin's not right," he whispered, "Normally the centaurs meet here, but somethin's pushed 'em out. Maybe they jus' chose a different place, tha' happens from time ter time."

Albus strained his ears for any sound that wasn't silence or foreboding. All he could pick up was an eerie quiet, the kind of quiet that comes before the monster jumps out of the closet, or the storm begins to rage.

Rose piped up quietly, "Hagrid, this is making me nervous. Can we _please _go back."

"No, no, we'll jus' look fer a couple more minutes. I'm sure we'll find 'em."

They all looked at each other as Hagrid set off again. They were all thinking the same thing: They would rather head back to the castle and get caught for being out late than spend another minute in the spooky forest.

After what seemed like hours of searching, Hagrid stopped again. He was inspecting a tree branch that was tied with brown leather.

"Tha's odd," he remarked, almost to himself, "I put this piece here when we las' walked by, to mark our spot. Appears like we're walkin' in circles, but tha's never happened to me before!"

Penny's teeth had begun to chatter with cold, and as though coming out of a foggy daze, Hagrid turned to look at her.

"Ah! Let's get yeh back out of the fores'. I've walked yeh in circles long enough."

Hagrid hurried them back to his hut with a masked air of suspicious confusion. He sent them off with a cup of hot tea and a warning to be careful with the trick steps on the stairwell.

When they returned to the Common Room, with no sign of any teachers, they each went up their own staircases without a word, and fell into bed, exhausted.


End file.
